Smithy

Which brings me to one of my pet food-pronunciation peeves. Twenty-five or thirty years ago, virtually every English speaker pronounced the name of that herb BAZZEL, which is how it should be pronounced. If you look in any older American dictionary (like Webster's Second) or any modern British dictionary (if I'm not mistaken--I'm going by the OED 2nd edition), this is the only pronunciation you'll find (represented in their proprietary notational systems). Somewhere along the line, though, Americans got it into their minds to pronounce it BAYZEL, which is a silliness that drives me to distraction. Would they say Bayzel Rathbone, or Bayzel Faulty? The herbal name and the male proper name are exactly the same word, and should be pronounced BAZZEL. Please join my campaign to restore this word. ← Well actually, I always pronounced the male actor's name the way I pronounce the herb, until I heard an English person discuss him! My Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, which is not new at all (printed 1979) lists 4 pronunciations of the word 'basil', in this order: "BAZel", "BAYSel", "BASel" and "BAYZel". I'm surpised, because I've always only heard the 4th pronunciation when discussing the herb and thought it was the preferred American pronunciation. At any rate, this is not new. Sorry, not going to join you on this one. Sha-lot, however, and marinahd really stick in my craw. A favorite radio food host, whom I otherwise adore, uses those pronunciations. Oh, dear.

Oh, I'd forgotten those quicksand films. They went into the 60's in California. Our local river was reputed to have quicksand beds, though I never was able to find them. Between the supposed quicksand, the fear of contracting polio from local ditches and ponds, and a reputed abandoned (but not closed) well back of my grandmother's place, we grandchildren never left the house without a full burden of do's, don'ts and worries. Fortunately, none of the fears came to pass (see how effective worrying is? ) and, even more fortunately, we all grew up unafraid anyway.

Those look like satellite photos. They always cheat. It's called "signal processing". Edited to add: still, they show the flow of sediments beautifully.

← Your foraging stories so far are not only amusing but inspiring. I'm going to have to point my sister to this thread so she'll stop feeling like a borderline thief on our excursions. Since my parents moved off the ranch and into town, whenever we visit we're off doing our morning walk through town instead of ranchland. It's hardly the same, but we've discovered a number of buildings with Meyer lemons and rosemary and various other herbs planted for ornament's sake. We deduced that they were intended for ornamentation because nobody was collecting those Meyers this winter. We came back with a dozen each, and barely dented the crop. I hadn't thought of a good story, though. I'll have to work on that for the next trip.

Oh, this is going to be a fun blog! You've picked a terrifically interesting theme! I didn't realize Galveston Bay was so big, nor that Houston had so many undeveloped areas, as it were. In addition to the other questions already posted, I have a couple: Those look almost like sand spits at the mouth of Galveston Bay. Which way does the longshore current go, and how (if at all) does that affect where you'll find good sea creatures? What, if anything, is the City of Houston doing to preserve the large land tracts involved in estates? It's a natural progression up here: * people who have dozens or hundreds of acres start cashing in on their land wealth; *the property gets subdivided; *more people move onto smaller lots. The result is a lot more crowding for the same infrastructure as before - more difficulty with water, sewer, roads, emergency services, and so on. Getting back to food and foraging, it makes the foraging harder for humans and the local wildlife. In my township they've set a minimum lot size to try to control the population density - but then, of course, they're encouraging sprawl as a result. Finally (for the moment): congratulations on your retirement! I'd missed it before. Enjoy, enjoy!

even more primitive, i usually make vinaigrette just by tossing some oil/acid/salt right onto the greens and giving them a vigorous tossing. works just fine for dinner. ← That's what I grew up with, but I love rubbing the garlic all over the bowl - I feel somehow like I'm missing out if I don't get that extra flavor. ← Someplace I read that the best way to dress a salad with a vinaigrette is to toss the greens with the oil (after rubbing garlic in the bowl), then start adding the vinegar and spices. The oil coating helps the rest of it to stick to the leaves and distribute more evenly. I confess, I rarely do it that way (or by mixing it all in the bowl before adding greens) because I'm prone to making large batches in a bottle so I'll have some later. The two-stage tossing seems to work, though. Any comments? Does anyone else do it this way?

This was a lot of fun. Thank you, thank you, and best wishes!

Turmeric, garlic, saffron, salt and cumin, with the ubiquitous onions under and around the chicken. I didn't use lemon, and next time I think I will. There was some fresh cilantro thrown in with the whole thing, but since it wasn't under the skin I doubt it was the culprit. Maybe the can was "off" at the outset. I think this may be the same flavor I dislike in my husband's chili, when he dumps half a jar of old cheapo chili powder into the mix. Still... I wouldn't have expected it with this brand of paprika, and I don't think it was very long ago that I used it with great success. Edited to correct the seasonings. (If only it were so easy to do so with the cookery!)

Way upthread I asked about what looks like 2x4's sticking through the brickwork of your fire pit at home. When the dust settles, I'd still like to know what those really are, and why they're there. What a great party! The photo of the sycamore really drives home the summery feel.

What's the expected shelf life of paprika? I made a variant of my roast paprika chicken last night, with what seemed like insane amounts of paprika (as in, there is no such thing as "too much" ) combined with some other spices borrowed from a Moroccan recipe. The final result, while tender, seemed bitter . The Moroccan treatment of chicken has been stellar before. My paprika chicken has been stellar before. This time, the paprika/spices blend under the chicken skin seemed, well, gritty and bitter. So, did I goof somehow with the spices, or has my 6-months-open Pride of Szeged Sweet Paprika gone stale? I see Ronnie Suburban's recommendations upthread for Penzey's and The Spice House...but I'd hate to toss out half a can of good stuff if it wasn't the culprit.

I wandered into an antiques store today and came out $15 poorer, and 2 cookbooks richer: Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen and San Francisco ala Carte, by the Junior League of SFO. I took it as an excellent sign that this book had several Post-It ™ notes marking recipes that looked particularly good...that indicated that the previous owner and I had similar tastes. (On the other hand, since the precious owner got rid of the book, maybe it wasn't such a good sign! ) I was going to make the eggplant soup tonight, and ran out of time. Soon, soon.

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting the flour mill and posting photos! I love seeing examples of old technology still cranking away, doing what it was intended to do and doing it well. As long as they can keep the machinery running and there's water, they'll never want for power. Wonderful. That butter ruler rocks! It isn't much of an issue for me, since I usually get the sticks, but the Plugra and Kerry Gold I splurge on come in those funny flat 1/2-lb bricks. It does make for difficult measurement.

It's cold and rainy and windy up north here for about the 20th day in a row, and I'm planning a fine braise for this night's dinner, and I'm drooling over your feast. Wish I could be there to work for food. Please tell more about the pit. Amongst the bricks there are some things going through the walls, perpendicular to the bricks. They look like slightly off-square 2x4's to me. What are they really, and why are they there? Don't they burn? "Contraption Cooking".... That sounds like a classic to come, right up there with Manifold Destiny. Edited for format.

All the food looks wonderful! There's a section in FoodMan's Introduction to Lebanese Cuisine about making pita, and there's been further discussion about it elsewhere on this forum. As I understand it, you need to slap that dough onto a very hot surface with a high heat capacity - like a baking stone in a hot oven - to get the pocket. What happens is the dough starts to steam from the inside, and it puffs up. So far, the baking stone is the only way I've managed to get the pocket.

Since your kitchen is gutted, where will you doing all this prep work and cooking? It looks like a lot is coming in from outside sources, and maybe the brisket and jambalaya can be done at the party place. Still, that leaves the slaw and salad and cutting and arranging and...you don't have a kitchen! Do post photos as you have time, please!

Ufda.... They say madness is the touch of the god. I'd say you're inspired!

Oh boy, I agree with you. I'll never understand why they're are so popular. The burger looks really good, and so does that cheesy bread. ← If you like that delectable crispy skin of a really properly fried (or broiled) chicken, then wings are the part for you. Backs are right up there too, but one doesn't find them as readily in the deli department and they seem a lot bigger, so they're a tougher sell as appetizers. Mmm. Nice crispy wings. Mmm. Mind you, the thigh is my favorite part - lots of good chicken grease and tender moist meat in there - but wings are a close second for me. Am I guessing correctly that you're not wild about chicken skin?

Re the red meat and inflammation: Have you noticed a difference in your inflammation since you gave up red meat? (I know that's a tough one to quantify.) Did the doctor specify what it is about red meat that contributes to inflammation? I ask this because it may be worth more investigation on your part. My best friend, a physician herself, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her literature search turned up what she thinks is convincing evidence that a strict limitation on saturated fats helps mitigate the progress of the disease, and she changed her diet accordingly some years ago. She eats no more than 5 grams of saturated fat per day. That means no red meat, no dark chicken meat (or skin), no cheese, no butter, skim milk only...the list goes on. There's no restriction on unsaturated fats, but further research into the fats led her into the Omega-3 vs. Omega-6 fatty acids and the content of each in various cooking oils. One school of thought among dieticians and epidemiologists maintains that the Omega-6 fatty acids contribute to autoinflammatory (and/or autoimmune - I'm not clear on the distinction) diseases. The researchers in that camp point to the increased use of corn oil and corn oil products 20 to 30 years ago as being roughly coincident with the rise in autoimmune diseases in the United States, and say that it's no accident. These things are, of course, difficult to prove because there are so many variables in people's lives, lifestyles, and genetics. At any rate, since she's playing for all the marbles here, she sticks to canola and olive oil - those two have the best combinations of Omega 3 vs. Omega 6, and low saturated fat content. She thinks it might be helping, but there's no way really for her to know. Sorry if this is too far off-topic. I'm neither a dietician nor a physician, but I find this stuff pretty interesting, and it's quite relevant to issues like psoriatic arthritis. If you feel like expanding on what you've learned or experienced, I'd like to read more about it. On another note: too bad about the restaurant in London not allowing you to take photos! Does he know he just lost your business? Do you suppose he reads eGullet?

Where the hell do you work?!! I think that would terrify me more than anything. I would definitely be looking at my co-workers a little sideways after that. Yikes!!!! ← Heh. Our place used to have a full-blown biological research lab, water quality lab and general chemistry lab. One never knew when one would open the refrigerator and find dead sparrows, fish parts, or jars with mystery materials. Eventually the Management sprang for an "R&D" fridge so the science experiments would stay separate from the food.

I think mine kept for well over a year - maybe 2, given the way stuff hangs around in my cupboards - without deteriorating before I used it up.

Congratulations on those awards! Too bad about the carrot cake and the judges, though. I personally am not crazy about carrot cake, but I think I'd like it better with orange in the frosting. I'm always perturbed when I'm sure I have something in my refrigerator or freezer and discover that it isn't there. What's chicken Milanese? (I suppose we'll find out tonight.) My refrigerator is usually overblown and overstuffed with random condiments and those-looked-good-in-the-store produce. The staples are dijon mustard, parmesan and cheddar cheeses, mayonnaise, eggs, olives (2 or 3 types), lemons, half and half, and sun-dried tomatos in oil. In the freezer there's always some kind of chicken, bacon, frozen stocks, frozen juice from the excess lemons, and frozen herbs munched up into olive oil. Next time we're planning to move, we'll need to stop shopping for food several months in advance just to work through all the stuff in the freezers and pantry.

Umm... my question is: what difference does it make if I'm bringing citrus into the US... since it usually comes from there anyway? Is it just in Manitoba that the citrus is mostly from calif. or florida? ← California is so concerned about the spread of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (among other pests) that you aren't even supposed to bring citrus in from other states, or in some cases between counties. I was told by a Los Angeles-area airport luggage inspector that it wasn't even okay to bring fruit from the Central Valley, a couple of hundred miles north, into the L.A. Basin. That last is impossible to enforce, of course, since there aren't any border crossings between counties. I can't remember whether Arizona has the same sort of restrictions coming into their state. From what I can tell, the U.S. Department of Agriculture applies the same level of protection to all U.S. borders on the assumption that the fruit may go anywhere in the country once it's inside. As for the source of the citrus, Manitoba may be a rare case. Australia and some South American countries are giving the U.S. citrus growers stiff competition now, and their fruit may (I don't know) be the source of other citrus found in Canada.

Let's not forget that the ears are the best part of the hollow chocolate Easter bunnies, to be savored, nibble by crunchy nibble! Mmm.

Tepee, I agree with the comments above: kids know the difference. You won't be teaching them any bad habits. If you're really concerned about it, give the dog a really improbable coloring: pink with green polka dots, or some such. My mother once baked a dog cake for my sister's birthday party, when my sister was about 4. Mom was really proud of that cake and wanted to be able to show it to Dad when he came home from work, but the party was in the afternoon and he wouldn't be home until evening. She planned to save the head to show Dad. Imagine her annoyance when one little girl attending the party absolutely REFUSED to eat from the dog's hind end!